March 26, 2005

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  CH,CH,CH,CHANGES: The day before Easter, 2005. I don't have any thing special to put up here today so I'll enter a News and Notes since I haven't done one for a while. I just "got back" from entering some responses on my ElectricPoetry Group, and noticed that Yahoo has completely changed the look of the software. Blogger used to do that all the time. Once I was "used to" the way the program worked, and could easily manuever my way around, they change it so I have to "learn it" all over again. That's one of the drawbacks of computer software. Sometimes they don't make it "better" they just "change the look". On Yahoo Groups, I always respond and post online, so after I made an entry, I'd hit the "next" button and go to the next post, respond, hit next, and go on. Now the "next" button gives you the "previous" entry and vice versa. Why they have it going backwards is anyone's guess, and there are probably "personal" settings one can employ, but man, it is sure weird that they changed everything so soon after the last time. As soon as I got used to the Xanga "look and feel" page, they changed it, too, and I don't think it's for the better as I have to "sign in" each time I want to change something on that section.

  
  

  TERRY SCHIAVO AND HER RIGHT TO DIE: The media is all over this story, aren't they? I haven't put my two cents in here on WhenWordsCollide as I do with some news stories, simply because A. This is almost ubiquitous, and I'm getting sick of reading about it, and B. It's a "hot button issue" and no matter what I write I will be sure to disturb and offend somebody out there. Let's recap. The woman has been in a "persistive vegatative state", meaning, nobody's home, for fifteen years. The cause of her "vegetative state" and brain damage was an "eating disorder." Her husband finally gave up after doctors couldn't do anything for his wife, and then he got in a legal wrangle back in 1993 when he tried to get her "plug pulled" and her parents (with whom he and Terry lived in better days) fought him to keep her alive so that if "some miracle" happened then she would come back to them.

  
  

  Her parents are sadly misinformed. I believe in miracles too, but don't think Terry'd even be anything appearing to be "normal" even if she did "miraculously come out of it". Her parents are now pawns of the Religious Right and the "right to lifers" who have flocked to this arena from picketing abortion clinics. Pres. Bush, (the antichrist) had to cut short one of his numerous vacations so that he could sign legislaton to allow the feds to "reinsert the tube" to keep her in a "persistive vegetative state" for even longer. This is the same Bush who put to death quite a few people in Texas when he was governor. He believes, or so he says, that we should always "err on the side of life". Of course, this hasn't stopped the killing in Iraq, where Americans seem to die daily. I believe it was Bush's decision to send our boys over to Iraq about  two years ago this week.

  
  

  I've got to hand it to the courts, who haven't backed down on their original ruling that the feeding tube could be removed. No matter how many times the Schindlers (Terry's parents) have appealed, the courts will not overturn the ruling. Not even for Bushie's brother Jeb.

  
  

  I feel sorry for Michael Schiavo in this mess. He's become a pariah in the media. Reports have him plotting to "kill" poor Terry so he can get married again. Is nothing sacred? I know that these medical bills for hospices can run up very quickly, and even though he won a suit that paid for a lot of her treatment, that was years ago, and the money is almost all gone. It's sad that Terry will probably pass away on Easter Sunday, and she certainly won't rise again, so my prayers are with her, and with her husband. It's so sad that the media and the right to lifers have turned this into a circus, but it's to be expected.

  
  

  MY NEW TOY: I got the new DirecTV/Tivo receiver installed in my media room this morning. I talked to my roommate last night, and he told me he would pay for his share of the television bill. We've been sharing this house for over a decade now, and Joel has never paid for his share of the television service. DirecTV charges me about $60.00 a month. I only have HBO for premium channels. I used to have all the movie channels but cut them off to save money since most of the movies aren't letter boxed anyway. I have an HD TV but I didn't get the HD receiver because it's $1000.00. I got a Tivo like in the living room (only this time I got both tuners hooked up , so I can watch and record on different channels if I need to.) but I am only paying for the second receiver, so I save almost $50.00 . The installer put a separate dish up especially for my machine so he only had to drill one hole in the wall for the cable, and didn't have tostring cables all over the inside of the house. This is all charged to my DirecTV bill, and my service is "mirrored" so I have everything on the new machine I had on the one in the living room. Now I'll probably never have to go into the living room, so Joel will have it all to himself.

  
  

  WORK: I worked on a rather involved quotation for up to a thousand pump panels to eventually go out in the middle of the desert in Iraq. The "cheapest" panel, even at a 160 quantity price point, was $6000.00 each. The most expensive was almost $10,000.00 each. When I contemplate how much some of the contracts I write are for. (We just shipped a $25,000.00 job last week which comprised of 7 individual panels) I wonder why I never "cheated" and "wrote in some money" for me personally. Word to the wise. Don't be honest if you want to cheat. I'm too honest, and I've never gotten a penny for anything I have done for my company other than my paycheck (and bonuses, when I got them). It would be easy for me to "engineer" some "kickback". I know exactly how to do it.

  
  

  But I woudn't sleep soundly knowing I cheated my employer, even though he won't give me a much needed raise.

  
  

  HEALTH: I'm drinking too much again. I'm still "healthy" and I got over that terrible flu. But I got back into the habit of "partying" with my roomie and drinking as we bullsh*t. I put away five beers last night and had a bit of an old "hangover" this morning. I probably won't drink anything for the rest of the holiday.

  
  

  HAPPY HOLIDAY: And speaking of holiday, a Happy Easter to all my readers, friends, and those who might just stop by. I was going to create what might have been construed as a rather sacriligeous looking composite for the "Easter Entry", which I thought was funny, but might have put off some folks, so I didn't create it, but it was a pretty funny idea I had. Now you'll never know what it was .

  
  

   

  • 4:43 pm
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